“You get to measure yourself on the world stage midway between the Olympics . . . we have to get back there,” Thomaidis said in an interview last week.

“There’s no doubt we have to be consistently appearing at worlds and performing well, maintaining the level that we’ve been able to achieve, and that there’s no slippage.”

Thomaidis, who took over from former head coach Allison McNeill after being on the staff for a decade, already has begun the process of preparing for this summer’s world qualification tournament in Mexico.

She’s spoken to all the members of the Canadian team that finished in the top eight at the London Games and is spending this weekend at a talent evaluation camp for the Canadian junior and cadette teams.

While Canada should have the majority of its Olympic roster back this summer when it searches for one of three worlds berths for the FIBA Americas region, finding talent for the next six or seven years remains a huge task.

There is little correlation between college basketball and the international game, so Thomaidis has to make sure there’s at least a grounding in the skills necessary to make that significant leap.

Canada’s Olympic team was chalk full of veterans who had appeared in the 2006 and 2010 world championships, invaluable experience.

“It’s no surprise that it was our oldest team and it’s the best we’ve done, there’s a strong correlation between the length of time they’ve been playing pro and our success on the international stage,” she said.

“Hopefully these kids that are going to graduating in the next few years, we can get them into the pro leagues and playing in good systems so they can come back and play a more significant role for us.”

The women’s program has been light years ahead of the men in the last decade; the last time a Canadian men’s team made the world championships was 2002 and they failed to qualify for either the 2008 or 2012 Olympics.

And while the men’s program looks promising with a handful of teens and young professionals seemingly ready to step in, Thomaidis and the women are working from a position of past success.

And while it hasn’t caused a groundswell of support or interest, they are making up ground.

“I think we got some respect at the Olympics, I think that turned some heads and opened some eyes,” she said. “I think what people don’t appreciate is that there’s been a consistent level of performance at very high level since 2006.

“We kind of took care of business, and I think people are starting to recognize from . . . the Own The Podium (funding for a top-8 Olympic program) perspective and it’s great that they’re starting to recognize that.

“From the general public’s perception, I think it’s a little bit slower to see and understand what has been accomplished up to now.

“But, again, it’s part of our challenge.”

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